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ACE Microbrewery IPA Brew Day

Started by BrewDorg, December 30, 2016, 12:08:08 PM

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Leann ull

I've checked the temp verses a thermopen on a boiler that schweeny lent me and the probe is 1 to 2 degrees below actual.
It's odd temperature measurement is made at the bottom, the coldest point of the boiler it will be fine if you have a rolling boil
I'd leave your mash basket in until nearly the boil or leave drain in a bucket and just chuck in when stops dripping
Wort looks amazing

BrewDorg

Yea I reckon that's what it is too and I'm in Kilkenny so very much level ground. It was boiling nicely on top, although I don't think I boiled off as much as predicted.

My new chiller worked absolutely brilliantly. Here are the times I took down.

16:24 - 99º
16:28 - 35º
16:32 - 27º
16:35 - 20º
16:36 - 19º

That's 12 minutes boil to pitching temp, stirring semi regularly. Must say I'm delighted with that performance.

In the end, I got 23L into the fermenter @ 1.066. I was aiming for 21.25L @ 1.068. My measured BH efficiency is a touch under 80% which is what I would expect (although I entered 75% for the first brew to give me some room for error). I need to boil off some more wort next day or change the boiloff settings in my equipment profile, considering I overshot my pre-boil gravity but undershot my post-boil.

Does anyone else ever have issues with bazooka screens being completely clogged? I did a whirpool with my paddle and drill, but the screen still got fully clogged and I had to scrape the screen constantly until the fermenter was filled :( I'm going to ditch the bazooka screen from now on considering I use a hop spider anyway.

Here's the Beersmith figures I collected for the ACE brewer and some final pics too. Fire away with any questions etc, I hope this helps someone in the future deciding to buy one of these.



New wort chiller about to go in


Drill & paddle whirpool


Final volume of wort inside the boiler


Splashing into the fermenter


Probably the foamiest wort I've ever had in the fermenter. Final volume 23L.



nigel_c


DEMPSEY

So now you can reset your brewhouse efficiency to 79 in your equipment profile as that's what you got. :)
Dei miscendarum discipulus
Forgive us our Hangovers as we forgive those who hangover against us

DEMPSEY

Did you check your end of sparge for both PH and gravity. :-\. You also have 1.33 extra litre going into the boil than estimate,that would change your target SG.
Dei miscendarum discipulus
Forgive us our Hangovers as we forgive those who hangover against us

BrewDorg

Didn't check for end of sparge pH actually. I never do, but must start now that you mention it. What can this tell me?

My end of sparge gravity was 1.058. Is that the same figure as post-boil yeah? Or do you mean the final runnings?

It's hard to know about the volumes too, because the graduations on the vessel don't appear to be right. When I put in 5 x 5L bottles at the start, I was getting a figure of just over 23L (I estimated 23.3L). You're right though, I probably did collect a bit too much from the sparge.

armedcor

Really interesting. I have the same chiller as you but I was planning to get a grainfather but this one keeps catching my eye.

DEMPSEY

You would need to know that your final running don't have a PH higher than 6.0 as then you are X bringing in tannins front the mash. The last running should be around 1010 as that's about right for your efficiency and the PH.
Dei miscendarum discipulus
Forgive us our Hangovers as we forgive those who hangover against us

Leann ull

Great job
Camping mats and Velcro or bungee straps work well.
Dump bazooka, I don't know why folks bother with them tbh, if you have leaf use a weighted bag, if pellets a good stir, a 90 degree valve facing up and 20 min wait and you will get clean wort as all the heavy stuff will be on the bottom.

Will_D

A typical wort boils at about 102C, higher grav. big ones can get to 104C. Cheaper controllers like the one fitted to the old GF or the ATC-800 sound the alarm at 99.9C - but thats just the alarm - all ok assuming you switched to manual boil!
Remember: The Nationals are just round the corner - time to get brewing

BrewDorg

Ah! 90 degree valve is a great idea, very simple too. Like an elbow connector pointing up right? I'm 100% getting rid of the bazooka. Don't know why I bothered. Only reason I'm using the hop spider now is because of the pump inlet at the bottom of the vessel. I don't want to risk getting a chunk of hops caught down the hole.

Will, my old boiler PID would show 102º alright with a good boil going. My thermapen would confirm that too. The new one though, both the controller and thermapen (the thermapen only reading the top of the wort) show 99-100º. It's very strange. I'll have to do a test with water to see what's going on.

@armedcor the build quality, support material (forum knowledge etc), spare parts, future upgrades for the ACE, won't be the same quality as the GF, but for the money I don't think it can be beaten. Especially when you have that chiller too. Still early days but after the maiden brew I'm very happy with the purchase.

darren996

Great write up Oisin. Get yourself a good measuring jug and confirm those graduation marks. Wouldn't trust what the supermarkets sell as 5 litres. Certainly those graduation marks are for liquid level without the grain basket in.

DEMPSEY

Here is a suggestion, why not quickly empty and clean the malt pipe and return it to the boil to use as a hop spider :)
Dei miscendarum discipulus
Forgive us our Hangovers as we forgive those who hangover against us

molc

The malt pipe would be a huge heatsink in the boil, so I wouldn't think it's a great idea.
Fermenting: IPA, Lambic, Mead
Conditioning: Lambic, Cider, RIS, Ole Ale, Saison
On Tap: IPA, Helles, Best Bitter

Leann ull

Yep and you won't get aggressive enough boil or max hop utilisation.
Commercial plastic jugs are not accurate use a scales with water to get accurate results